Post by Dizzy D on Oct 5, 2021 7:22:53 GMT -5
I read volume 1 of Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti's S.W.O.R.D.
Abigail Brand has resigned from Alpha Flight (who had taken over from S.W.O.R.D. in Captain Marvel as Earth's first defense against alien threats) when she was demoted and her position replaced by Henry Peter Gyrich. The mutant nation of Krakoa found S.W.O.R.D.'s old orbital station and decided to hire Brand as the new head of the mutant space program.
I've found as I get older I'm less and less interested in superhero books where it's just heroes vs. villains, so I really liked the first and last issue of this trade, but the mid-part they are dragged into a Marvel crossover (don't recall the name of the crossover itself, but it was the Venom-central crossover of last year with Earth being invaded by Venom-type symbionts). Ewing still manages to get some good character development in there for his cast, but the crossover does not progress the main idea of the series which I'm far more interested in;
In the first issue (where there is no enemy or combat), six mutants use their combined powers to break through barriers of time and space to the heart of creation and bring back a new element.
The final episode of the trade is character driven as one member of the Six has to defend their actions and opinions before the Council, while also setting up the subplot of S.W.O.R.D. interfering in intergalactic politics to pave way for a better future for mutants.
I like that the series cast are mostly minor characters, only Magneto and Cable are big name characters in this series and it seems to be that Magneto is only there in a supporting role for the first issues. The Six are Fabian Cortez (X-Men villain during the 90s), Armor (young X-Men created for Joss Whedon and John Cassidy's run), Manifold (One of Nick Fury's Secret Warriors), Wiz-Kid (a mutant from the X-terminator series back in the 80s), Risque (an ally/enemy of James Proudstar in X-Force during the late 90s) and Peeper (a member of Magneto's 2nd Brotherhood of Evil Mutants which appeared in Captain America and which is mostly forgotten). Rounding out the cast are several other lesser known mutants like Frenzy, Random, Paibok the Power Skrull and the various teleporters on Manifold's subteam.
Nearly all characters with relatively little history (I think Manifold has had the most as he has been in Hickman's Secret Warriors and Avengers and also was an important supporting character in Coates' Black Panther) which allows Ewing to develop the cast and their relationships to each other. In case of characters that have not been seen for quite a while, like Wiz-Kid, they can even be reinvented (Taki is now a confident, young adult instead of the shy kid he was back in X-Terminators).
So a cast with a lot of potential and I hope that the rest of the series will be more like issues #1 and #5 and less like the crossover issues in the middle.
Abigail Brand has resigned from Alpha Flight (who had taken over from S.W.O.R.D. in Captain Marvel as Earth's first defense against alien threats) when she was demoted and her position replaced by Henry Peter Gyrich. The mutant nation of Krakoa found S.W.O.R.D.'s old orbital station and decided to hire Brand as the new head of the mutant space program.
I've found as I get older I'm less and less interested in superhero books where it's just heroes vs. villains, so I really liked the first and last issue of this trade, but the mid-part they are dragged into a Marvel crossover (don't recall the name of the crossover itself, but it was the Venom-central crossover of last year with Earth being invaded by Venom-type symbionts). Ewing still manages to get some good character development in there for his cast, but the crossover does not progress the main idea of the series which I'm far more interested in;
In the first issue (where there is no enemy or combat), six mutants use their combined powers to break through barriers of time and space to the heart of creation and bring back a new element.
The final episode of the trade is character driven as one member of the Six has to defend their actions and opinions before the Council, while also setting up the subplot of S.W.O.R.D. interfering in intergalactic politics to pave way for a better future for mutants.
I like that the series cast are mostly minor characters, only Magneto and Cable are big name characters in this series and it seems to be that Magneto is only there in a supporting role for the first issues. The Six are Fabian Cortez (X-Men villain during the 90s), Armor (young X-Men created for Joss Whedon and John Cassidy's run), Manifold (One of Nick Fury's Secret Warriors), Wiz-Kid (a mutant from the X-terminator series back in the 80s), Risque (an ally/enemy of James Proudstar in X-Force during the late 90s) and Peeper (a member of Magneto's 2nd Brotherhood of Evil Mutants which appeared in Captain America and which is mostly forgotten). Rounding out the cast are several other lesser known mutants like Frenzy, Random, Paibok the Power Skrull and the various teleporters on Manifold's subteam.
Nearly all characters with relatively little history (I think Manifold has had the most as he has been in Hickman's Secret Warriors and Avengers and also was an important supporting character in Coates' Black Panther) which allows Ewing to develop the cast and their relationships to each other. In case of characters that have not been seen for quite a while, like Wiz-Kid, they can even be reinvented (Taki is now a confident, young adult instead of the shy kid he was back in X-Terminators).
So a cast with a lot of potential and I hope that the rest of the series will be more like issues #1 and #5 and less like the crossover issues in the middle.
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